July 2, 2013
12:00 PM (EDT)

News Release Number: STScI-2013-24

Comet ISON Brings Holiday Fireworks

July 2, 2013: This July 4th, the solar system is showing off some fireworks of its own.
Superficially resembling a skyrocket, Comet ISON is hurtling toward the
Sun at a whopping 48,000 miles per hour. Unlike a firework, theREAD: Junior version of this articleLearn about this story in the Star Witness, a science newspaper available on our sister site, Amazing Space. comet is
not combusting, but in fact is pretty cold. Its skyrocket-looking tail is
really a streamer of gas and dust bleeding off the icy nucleus. The video
shows a sequence of Hubble observations taken over a 43-minute span,
compressed into just five seconds. The comet travels 34,000 miles during
the exposure sequence.